There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Like about growth comparisons. Here is some upbeat news about Britain and downbeat news about the USA based partly on information from David Smith, the chief financial writer of Britain's Sunday Times (for which I worked 25 years ago).

Wrote Goldman Sachs: Britain “will grow faster than US, eurozone and Japan” after its Q2 growth of 1.1%. The USA grew a disappointing 2.4% in the same period.

My first reaction was “huh?” It turns out that measured in the same way as Britain’s data, USA growth was 0.6%, barely half Britain’s Q2 expansion of 1.1%.